{"id":4817,"date":"2021-09-15T13:55:29","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T17:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/?p=4817"},"modified":"2025-02-05T10:49:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:49:48","slug":"attention-ny-employers-doh-covid-19-designation-triggers-hero-act-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/attention-ny-employers-doh-covid-19-designation-triggers-hero-act-requirements.html","title":{"rendered":"Attention NY Employers: DOH COVID-19 Designation Triggers HERO Act Requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June of 2021 the New York Legislature passed the HERO Act requiring employers to adopt an airborne infectious disease exposure presentation plan by no later than August 5, 2021.\u00a0\u00a0 Employers were free to use the State\u2019s model plan entitled Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standards and Model Plans for Various Industries, found at https:\/\/dol.ny.gov\/ny-hero-act<\/a>, or develop their own plans that were compliant with HERO Act\u2019s requirements. However, employers were not obligated to implement the infectious disease plan until such time that the Commissioner of Health officially designated an outbreak as a \u201chighly contagious infectious disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

On September 6, 2021, the Commissioner of Health formally designated COVID-19 as a highly infectious disease, thus triggering the obligations of New York employers to implement the protocols of their respective infectious disease prevention plans, including:<\/p>\n